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Paul Whiteman And His Orchestra

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GenreJazz
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Albums11
Songs91
AboutPaul Samuel Whiteman (March 28, 1890 – December 29, 1967) was an American bandleader, composer, orchestral director and violinist.

As the leader of one of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s and 1930s, Whiteman produced recordings that were immensely successful, and press notices often referred to him as the "King of Jazz". Using a large ensemble and exploring many styles of music, Whiteman is perhaps best known for his blending of symphonic music and jazz, as typified by his 1924 commissioning and debut of George Gershwin's jazz-influenced "Rhapsody in Blue". Later, Whiteman's work on symphonic jazz influenced many jazz musicians - directly or indirectly - such as Miles Davis, Gil Evans, the Modern Jazz Quartet, and Wynton Marsalis. Whiteman recorded many jazz and pop standards during his career, including "Wang Wang Blues", "Mississippi Mud", "Rhapsody in Blue", "Wonderful One", "Hot Lips (He's Got Hot Lips When He Plays Jazz)", "Mississippi Suite", "Grand Canyon Suite", and "Trav'lin' Light". He also co-wrote the 1925 jazz classic "Flamin' Mamie". His popularity faded in the swing music era of the middle 1930s, and by the 1940s Whiteman was semi-retired from music. He experienced a revival and had a comeback in the 1950s with his own network television series on ABC, Paul Whiteman's Goodyear Revue, which ran for three seasons. He also hosted the 1954 ABC talent contest show On the Boardwalk with Paul Whiteman.

Whiteman's place in the history of early jazz is somewhat controversial. Detractors suggest that Whiteman's ornately orchestrated music was jazz in name only (lacking the genre's improvisational and emotional depth), and co-opted the innovations of black musicians. Defenders note that Whiteman's fondness for jazz was genuine (he worked with black musicians as much as was feasible during an era of racial segregation), that his bands included many of the era's most esteemed white musicians, and that Whiteman's groups handled jazz admirably as part of a larger repertoire. In his autobiography, Duke Ellington declared, "Paul Whiteman was known as the King of Jazz, and no one as yet has come near carrying that title with more certainty and dignity."

Whiteman was born in Denver, Colorado. He came from a musical family: his mother Elfrida was a former opera singer, and his father, Wilburforce James Whiteman was the supervisor of music for the Denver Public Schools, a position he held for fifty years. His father insisted that he learn an instrument, preferably the violin. But young Paul preferred the viola, and that was what he learned to play.

His skill at playing the viola led him to an opportunity to perform in the Denver Symphony Orchestra; he was a member from 1907, and in the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra from 1914. From 1917 to 1918, Whiteman conducted a 40-piece U.S. Navy band. After the war, he formed the Paul Whiteman Orchestra.

Moreover, with his classical violinist and violist start, he led a jazz-influenced dance band, which became popular locally in San Francisco, California in 1918. In 1920 he moved with his band to New York City where they began recording for the Victor Talking Machine Company. The popularity of his Victor records made the Paul Whiteman Orchestra famous nationally. (In his first five recordings sessions for Victor, August 9 – October 28, 1920, Whiteman used the name "Paul Whiteman and His Ambassador Orchestra", presumably because he had been playing at the Ambassador Hotel in Atlantic City; from November 3, 1920, he started using "Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra.")

Whiteman became the most popular band director of that decade. In a time when most dance bands consisted of six to ten men, Whiteman directed a much larger and more imposing group of up to 35 musicians. By 1922, Whiteman already controlled some 28 ensembles on the East Coast and was earning over a $1,000,000 a year.

Whiteman recorded Hoagy Carmichael singing and playing "Washboard Blues" to the accompaniment of his orchestra in 1927. In May 1928 Whiteman signed with Columbia Records, and recorded for the label until September 1931, when he returned to RCA Victor. He would remain with Victor until March 1937. In the early 1960s, he played in Las Vegas before retiring.

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